A Very Cardcaptors Christmas
by Miss BBD
Summary: What happens when Li is in search of the perfect Christmas gift for Sakura...madness, that's what! And why the heck is he shopping at Victoria's Secret??? Will he go insane before he finds the perfect gift? Will guys ever learn how to shop???


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I don't own this and I'm not making any money off of it so please don't sue me.  
  
A Very Cardcaptors Christmas  
It's Christmas time and Li is having the typical guy problem...what the heck to get for Sakura?!? (*sigh* guys!). Well, this should be interesting. Plus, why the heck is he looking in Victoria's Secret??? So get your mistletoe ready! [Yes, this is sort of a sequel to Stranded. ;o)]  
  
  
The Christmas season was upon the town. Everyone smiled and laughed, red and green boughs were hung everywhere, and a light dusting of snow covered the ground. It was the most wonderful time of the year...and Li was miserable.   
It's not fair...Christmas time is just another trap that guys fall in to. We're pressured to get the perfect gift, even though we know nothing about this stuff, and if we don't we'll never live it down.  
Li growled and shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his warm coat. Christmas was only a week away and he still didn't have a present for Sakura. She'd told him not to worry about it, that whatever he got would be fine...but he knew that was a lie. A lie that all women tell. The truth was that girls compared and if you weren't the best or darn near it, you were incompetent. Ah, the cruelty of the holidays.   
"Bah. Humbug," he muttered. Then he sighed. All he really wanted to do was make Sakura happy. Ever since they had come back from Spring Break (read Stranded to find out what happened), they had had a cute and shy sort of relationship going on, but Li hoped that this holiday would help them over the wall to a true and loving relationship...not just the cutesy middle-schoolish coupling they had now. Not that he wanted anything outrageous, just that they could have a mature relationship that would last. Right now he felt they were a little shaky. That was also part of the reason why this gift was so important.  
Li shook his head. It was no big deal...he'd just ask Madison what to get...yeah, she'd know. Feeling lighter and more spirited he walked a little more briskly. He could see Sakura's house not far ahead. She was standing out in the falling snow waiting for him so they could walk to school together. A feral grin crept across Li's face as he ducked behind a shrub.   
  
  
Sakura stood with her face tilted towards the sky. Delicate flakes fell all around her and on her rosy cheeks. Her lips were red from the cold as she smiled at the sky. A shiver ran through her body as she wrapped her heavy coat more tightly around her shoulders. He'd better hurry up and get here before I freeze in this position.   
Li crept silently towards her across the grass. She's so beautiful...like an angel in the snow. Slowly, he got closer and closer until...  
Sakura nearly screamed as she felt two strong arms wrap around her from the back and felt warm breath on her neck, but then she recognized the aura that mingled with hers. She leaned her head back on his shoulder and enjoyed how warm he was.   
"Morning," she said.  
"Hey," he murmured into her hair.   
She was facing forward so he could not see the evil grin that crossed her face as he said this. Suddenly, her mittened right hand came up and dumped a handful of snow on top of Li's head and she quickly spun away giggling with glee. A shocked Li jumped two feet in the air as he shook the ice off of his hair and cold globs went down the back of his shirt. Then he stopped and looked at Sakura who was still smiling.   
"That does it...this is war!" he shouted.  
"Not again!" she laughed hysterically.  
Sakura ducked on the other side of the fence as Li threw a snowball at her stomach. It hit the fence instead and she popped up, sticking her tongue out and threw one herself, hitting him square in the chest. Li grabbed a huge chunk of snow and prepared to throw it, but he stepped on a slick spot on the driveway and slipped. He fell on his rear and the snow clump landed on top of him. He quickly struggled up and finally managed to hit Sakura. She screamed in mock fury and dove at him. They rolled around in the grass until she finally managed to hold him down in the three inches of snow that covered the ground.  
"Surrender?" she asked playfully.  
"Never," came the defiant reply.  
She slowly leaned down to give him a victory kiss and right when their lips were about to touch--BAM!  
"Tori!!!" came the yell from the glen of trees nearby.  
"I'm sorry, I slipped! Give me a break squirt!"  
Sakura looked down at Li in exasperation and quirked an eyebrow.  
"Never a moment of peace," Li grumbled under his breath.  
Sakura gave him a quick peck on his snow chilled lips and got up.  
The "Film Crew" struggled out of the trees. Madison, Tori, and Kero were still arguing.   
"You almost broke the camera...I can't believe I let you film. You ruined the shot," Madison cried dramatically.  
"It wasn't his fault," Kero argued.  
"Oh, now you're on his side?"  
"Not necessarily."  
"Oh, well. What should we call the shot?"  
Tori scratched his head, "How about 'Frolicking in a Winter Wonderland'?"  
"Oh that's good...I like it!" Madison exclaimed in full director mode.  
Tori glanced over at his sister, "Or maybe, 'Yucky Fluff on Ice'."  
Sakura glared at him. "Madison, I thought you were going to fire him?!"   
"Well, I was, but he keeps coming up with good ideas and his camera work isn't bad."  
Kero piped up, "What about me?"  
Madison looked over, "Well, you're just plain cute!"  
  
Later that Day  
"Madison, I need to talk to you. It's important."  
"Sure, Li. What is it?"  
"I um, well, this is embarrassing...I don't know what to get for Sakura for Christmas. And I thought, well, you're a girl and you're her best friend so maybe you'd know."  
"Li, it doesn't matter as long as it comes from the heart."  
"Yeah, that's what she said...but I know it's not true and so do you!" His eyes had taken on a frightening hysterical quality, but Madison wasn't fazed.   
"Sorry, bub. This is something you have to do on your own."  
  
Li wandered aimlessly. He had a detached feeling as he watched the flow of holiday shoppers all around him. They all know what to get. He thought bitterly. He had two days left until crunch time, and he still had no idea what to buy. Li wondered if his sanity was going to hold out until then. Hmm...maybe in that store over there.   
Little did he know that surreptitiously following him in the crowd, a familiar three-man film crew followed him.  
"This will be a masterpiece. I'll call it 'Plight of the Shopper'," Madison said as she proudly adjusted her beret.  
"Hurry it up Madison, I can't hold you on my shoulders much longer," Tori whined.  
"Don't worry, he's almost down the escalator," Kero told him. Then the little guardian grinned, "This is gonna be fun to watch."  
  
Li could almost swear he heard 'Flight of the Bumblebee' playing as he rushed from store to store. He asked everyone he could for advice, but nothing was just right. Li was nearing desperation. His eyes were wide and his hair disheveled. His shirt was half-untucked and he couldn't stop shaking. Other shoppers recognized the signs of holiday breakdown and got quickly out of his way. He saw a happy-looking couple and staggered up to them. The man stood in front of his girlfriend to protect her from this lunatic as Li grabbed his arm and dragged him away for a few feet.  
"Look, kid, I don't have any money," the shaken guy said.  
Li shook his head and struggled to speak.  
"Where...find...girl...gift...at...please?"  
The man took pity on the poor guy. "Look, I'll tell you. It's right around the corner two stores down. Pretty much anything in there would suffice."  
"Thank...you..."  
Li staggered off in the direction the man had indicated.  
Then the guy thought for a second and called after him, "Wait! Hey kid, how old are you?"  
But it was too late. Li was gone. The man shrugged and walked off with his girlfriend.  
  
Madison frowned, "Hmm. That was weird. I wonder where he's going?"  
As the film crew turned the corner they saw Li run blindly into the middle of a--  
"VICTORIA'S SECRET!!!!!" Tori yelled in fury. "That kid is shopping for MY sister in Victoria's Secret?!!!"  
"Tori, no! I'm sure it was an accident." Madison struggled to hold him back from running in to give Li the beating of a lifetime. Meanwhile Kero continued to film.  
  
Li looked around in a dazed state. He heard soft, sultry music and saw lots of bright colors and...silk. Where am I? Walking over to a table, he picked up a small scrap of silk and lace and realized it was a...THONG!? Oh...my...God...I went to Victoria's Secret! Suddenly, he heard a familiar laugh. Ohpleasenoohpleasenoohpleaseno. Sakura and her dad had apparently come to the mall to pick some presents up and they were just about to walk by the storefront. With no time to think, Li stuck the thong on his head to cover his face and ducked behind a scantily clad mannequin. Sakura passed by and didn't see him. Li breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly noticed that everyone in the whole store, including a bewildered clerk and an angry looking security guard, was staring at him...in Victoria's Secret...with a thong on his head...  
"Whoops."  
In one quick motion, Li flung the thong back on the table and ran out of the store before the security guard could catch him. The film crew taped all of this in silent shock and then slowly...one by one...they cracked up.   
"And," Madison gasped out between laughs, "we have it all on tape!"  
  
Li sat in a slushy, dirty, and cold back alley behind the mall. I'm a total failure as a boyfriend.   
"What's the trouble, my man?"  
Li looked up to see that he was not alone in the alley. A homeless man sat across from him.  
Li sighed, "I can't find a present for my girlfriend for Christmas."  
"There are worse problems in the world, my man."  
"I know, I know. But, she's really special."  
The bum laughed with his crackly and mellow voice. "They always are."  
Li glared angrily at the man...what did he know. "No, you don't understand. She's one of a kind. I'll never find anyone like her as long as I live."  
"I see. Very special indeed." The old man smiled. "The perfect gift isn't so hard to find."  
Li laughed bitterly, "As long as it's not at Victoria's Secret."  
"You just have to look deeper. Think about the real meaning behind the season. The gift you give her should be something that is important to her. Something that she's always wanted from you and only you can give her."  
Li looked at the man curiously, "Like what?"  
"You tell me, my man, you tell me."  
Li sat there in that filthy alley and thought about Sakura. He thought about how much he loved her and how long he had known her. Then suddenly, an explosion went off in his brain. Of course. He suddenly knew exactly what Sakura had always wanted, and only he could give her. He sprang to his feet and began to run. He stopped to thank the man who was responsible for this epiphany, but he had disappeared. Li looked around the silent alley and then smiled.  
"Thank you," he whispered and ran off.  
  
  
It was 3 o'clock on Christmas Day...the moment had come. Everyone was gathered around the fireplace drinking eggnog at Sakura's house.   
"Present Time!" Madison declared.  
After everyone but Li and Sakura had exchanged presents it quieted down. Li took Sakura's hand and led her aside for their personal present exchange.  
"I want to go first Li." She handed him a small but heavy box wrapped in silver and white paper and a silver bow. Inside on top of the embossed tissue paper, Li found a hemp necklace. Enwoven at the front was a smooth pink shell. When Li opened the rest of the gift, he understood its significance. The other part of the present was a picture of an island...their island. It was in a beautiful cut-glass frame with a heart surrounding a teardrop on the bottom. The island shined like a gem in the blue ocean. Inscribed on the frame in silver letters was "This place will always contain a part of us." Li gasped, recognizing his own words. Deeply touched, he looked at Sakura who was smiling with delight.  
"Sakura...I..."  
"I know," she kissed him softly.  
Li took a deep breath. It was the moment of reckoning. He pulled out a tiny box wrapped in mint green paper. Sakura carefully opened it. As she opened the box she was shocked at what was inside...nothing. Then she looked at Li. His upper body was half bent towards her in a gesture of...respect. Suddenly she understood. He was giving her respect...professional respect.  
As he stood upright again, he saw in her eyes that she understood by the happy tears.   
"Thank you," she whispered.  
  
Everyone else, who were of course, pressed to the glass watching let out a sigh. Except for Tori.   
"That's it? The brat gets away with giving her an empty box."  
Madison promptly smacked him over the head and went back to taping the couple happily.  
Li blushed. "Well, actually, I did get her something else." Li pulled a lightweight box out from under his sweater. Sakura smiled with surprise and opened the box. It had lots of tissue paper in it, and on top was a beautiful necklace. It had a sparkling silver chain with a flower made of frosted glass dangling from it. And not just any flower...a cherry blossom.   
"Oh, Li. It's beautiful."  
Smiling gently, Li fastened it around her neck.  
"Merry Christmas, Sakura."  
"Merry Christmas, Li."  
Everyone sighed again as he kissed her sweetly with a hand on each side of her face.  
As they broke the kiss, Sakura noticed something blue poking out from under the tissue paper.   
"Hey, what's this..."   
Li's eyes widened and his body tensed to run...suddenly remembering that he was a little insane last night when he was wrapping.   
"It's a--THONG?" Sakura held up the thong in front of her eyes in shock and blushed furiously. She whipped around to Li for an explanation.  
"YAHHHHAHAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" came the crazed yell from Tori as he launched himself at Li.  
"AHHHH!" came Li's terrified yell as Tori chased him all around the living room, thong in hand.  
Everyone else gave into a fit of hysterical laughing as Madison filmed the conclusion to her newest film. Kero broke into a rendition of the 'Thong Song'.   
Sakura shook her head in puzzlement and wondered just what Li had been doing yesterday.  
  
  
  
The End! Thanks for reading everyone. I hope you enjoyed. I broke down in fits of giggling as I wrote. Please R&R. Luv Ya!  
  
  



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